Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Committee held on 15 January 2014, and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 January 2014 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

Members were reminded that since Councillor Michael White stepped down as Leader of the Council and Councillor Steven Kelly acceded to that role, the appointment to a number of important outside bodies needed to revised as they were now anomalous.  The Committee was also mindful that the Local Elections were not far distant and therefore it would be prudent to ensure that existing memberships remained consistent as far as was possible, bearing in mind that the next outside body appointments would now take place at the beginning of July.

The Committee:

1          (a)          Determined the appointments to the organisations referred to in the report for the period until the meeting which would deal with appointments for the municipal year, 2014/15 (or such other period as may be relevant in any specific case).

(b)          Recommended to the Leader that appointments be made where those appointments were executive and

2          Noted that where the Council’s representative (or any deputy or alternative representative where applicable) was unable to attend a particular meeting and the constitutional arrangements of the body in question so permitted, that representative might mandate the Chair of the meeting to exercise a proxy vote.

The Committee was reminded that a report had been submitted to the January meeting of the Governance Committee outlining the range of training and information to be provided to Members following the Council election in May 2014.

Following further discussions with the Member Development Group, outlines of the first two planned events for Members were provided for noting by the Committee.

Members considered that the schedule for special training (e.g. to the committees for audit, equalities, pensions, licensing and planning) would need to be covered quickly although the Committee acknowledged that whilst there was no specific requirement for Members appointed to the Regulatory Services Committee to receive formal training, the changing rules governing planning made training desirable.

In addition, Members expressed a desire for the training to be given to new councillors to be separate from and distinct to that given to those Members who were returning and who had acquired experience as the Committee appreciated there would be clear advantages for both groups to receive training appropriate to reflect that differential.

Members were in agreement that the time after the local elections and before Annual Council would be a hectic one and they impressed officers with the need for those planning the programme to ensure that appropriate mandatory training was provided to those chosen by the various Groups to be Leaders and Deputy Leaders.

The Committee noted the report and accepted the programme on the understanding that mandatory training for Group Leaders and their deputies was included in the programme as well as the other elements identified above.

The Committee noted the amendments to the Constitution set out in the appendix to this Minute

The Committee noted the amendments to the Constitution set out in the appendix to this Minute

The Committee noted the amendments to the Constitution set out in the appendix to this Minute

The Committee noted the amendments to the Constitution set out in the appendix to this Minute